Finally Lighting The Fire

Well howdy. It’s been a while, huh. The last time we talked, I was feeling a bit down. Under the weather. Beat up, broken, busted. I kept my head up, but it was tough. Well, good news. I’m back. And I have some exciting / awesome things to share.

MS Ride

I think I mentioned that I had signed up and started training for the Bike for MS ride in NYC. I signed up for the 30 mile ride with my friends Dylan, Zach, Dylan’s mom Elizabeth, and Dylan’s girlfriend Tiffany. Dylan and I had a few tough training sessions together (including a 40 mile beast mode ride that I’m really not sure how I finished without passing out). Zach and I rode 1-3 times a week together. I can’t thank them enough.

We even had a group ride with the 3 of us that kinda sorta started with us on a highway. With cars. Accidentally. Whoops.

Lots of people!

Anyway, I trained, I got back into shape, and we got to the MS ride and crushed it. We sped down the West Side Highway as a gang of hooligans, with a stream of epithets thrown our way as we passed, cut off, swerved, and accelerated our way through several hundred/thousand bikers. By the time we looped around the bottom end of Manhattan, we had caught up with the lead pack. We stayed with the motorcade, paced at about 16.5 miles an hour. In August, if you would have had me ride at 16.5mph, I would have been done in a few minutes. Then, it felt easy.

After a mandatory rest stop up in a park at the northern tip of Manhattan, we cruised back onto the Henry Hudson, and uncorked it down the West Side highway to the finish line. According to my parents, who were counting finishers, I finished somewhere around 14th, with Zach right on my tail. Dylan beat us by a minute or three.

Complete with Eff Leukemia jerseys!

When we were leaving, about an hour and a half later, people were still finishing.

Medication Reductions

Get this. I can actually count all of the meds I’m taking on one hand. WHAT. You heard me. ONE HAND. Before I wouldn’t have been able to count them with all four sets of digits. Now we’re down to just 5 – acyclovir, mepron, pantroprazole, magnesium, and cyclosporine. On top of which, all these doses (except the first 2) are getting reduced. I have some ridiculous pictures to put up, as soon as I figure out how I want to arrange the boxes. The amount of pills I had to take in the last year just make me kind of cringe with sympathy for my liver.

Additionally, I had my year-later biopsy a little early (the official date is November 7th), so I should get to hear some results from that fairly soon.

Just General Goodness

While I’ve recently been a little under the weather (no worries! Doctor Barker is not alarmed, so don’t panic!), I’ve still been making it to the gym. Last week, for the first time in over a year, I was able to complete not 1, but seven full extension body weight pull ups. Granted I’m comparing myself to basically the most in-shape version of myself in my entire life, but I’m slowly but surely making progress to returning to the ridiculous shape I was in.

I’ve also been able to be social in the last few months, with disc golf outings, board game nights, Halloween parties, and just general fun times in the last few months have made me feel like my life is finally getting back to normal. On top of Ender’s Game coming out – I’m a happy camper.

Long Term Goals

Finally, I wanted to close out the post with some of the stuff I’ve been working on. I’m finally getting back to working with the trainer that got me into the amazing shape I was in beforehand (his name is Rui, and if you’re in the Westchester area, email me if you want his details). He asked me what my plans were and what I wanted to do, and I told him.

First – American Ninja Warrior. I’ve wanted to try out for it ever since they brought it from Japan to America (and realistically, I wanted to do it when it was in Japan, but I couldn’t figure out how I’d be able to afford getting there), and the weekend I got diagnosed, my family and I binge watched all the episodes on NBC in a marathon of “life is totally normal isn’t it guys there’s nothing else in the world going on let’s just watch this crazy obstacle course show”. However, this course is so ridiculous that I legitimately am unsure if I can get myself into the minimum shape I’d want to be to attempt it. We’ll see.

Second (and more realistically) – 2014 New York City Triathlon. This is all I’m sayin’:

Yup.

August 3rd. Be there at the finish line, because that’s where I’m gonna be.

That is the best news ever. You rock and look amazing. Those pullups are a true testament to the athlete you are. Keep biking just watch out for those awful cars. You will reach all your goals and then some I am confident of that. You go!!!!

You go Anthony – I’m exhausted just reading what you’ve done and your future goals.
Heard you look amazing and are back! You were a big hit at the Halloween party!
Wonderful to hear positive results and outlook – this family needs a break!
Love you –